1 00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:10,360 This is ERC Sundays, the messages at Emmaus Rd. 2 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:14,240 Church in DeWitt, Iowa. ERC is a Church of people 3 00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:17,320 striving to grow in Jesus and make him known to others through 4 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:21,560 our faith, words and actions. Find out more about our church 5 00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:25,360 at emmausrdonline.org. Here's this week's message. 6 00:00:26,920 --> 00:00:31,160 My name is Pastor Matt. I, as Kristen said, get the 7 00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:34,320 privilege of serving alongside her and Pastor Chris, who is 8 00:00:34,320 --> 00:00:36,840 just here for looks this morning. 9 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:42,280 It's not going that well. All right, you, you said it, not 10 00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:46,840 me. We have the joy, quite 11 00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:51,600 literally, of answering into this season of Advent. 12 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:54,200 I said some of the words in in my prayer already. 13 00:00:54,200 --> 00:00:57,880 We've sang a lot of familiar words, hopefully already in 14 00:00:58,360 --> 00:01:01,960 modern, if not traditional Christmas songs this morning. 15 00:01:02,120 --> 00:01:08,960 Familiar words of coming of exile, of deliverance, of of 16 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:15,400 goodness and hope and joy found in this baby Jesus being born of 17 00:01:15,960 --> 00:01:21,560 a woman, being born fully God, fully man having, having both of 18 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:28,200 those beings make him up. And really the season of Advent 19 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:34,080 is the advent of hope of of the journey 30 some years later to 20 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:39,600 this cross where he would pour out his life for all of mankind, 21 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:44,800 quite literally born to give us life as as we just sang, 22 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:49,280 ultimately born to die, but to give life to a world that had no 23 00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:52,280 other answers for their sin problem. 24 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:55,600 Jesus came to live a perfect life and in his death and 25 00:01:55,600 --> 00:01:58,520 resurrection we have true and eternal hope. 26 00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:04,360 So we are jumping into a series this Advent, the next 4 weeks, 27 00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:07,040 and Christmas Eve in the book of Isaiah. 28 00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:11,320 Some of you might be saying, I know I haven't been in my Bible 29 00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:13,600 as much as I should have, and maybe I'm kind of new to this 30 00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:17,280 Christianity thing, but isn't, isn't the story of Christmas in, 31 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:19,680 in the gospels? Isn't that like the second-half 32 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:21,800 of the Bible? And we read about the birth of 33 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:23,600 Jesus and then that's in Matthew. 34 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:25,680 And then we finish that one and we start again in Mark and we 35 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:26,840 read about the birth of Jesus again. 36 00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:29,880 And then, and then in and, and we, and we go through, we go 37 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:32,560 through the gospels and, and read about the, the coming of 38 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:34,320 Jesus in there. So why are we in Isaiah? 39 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:40,600 Because far before the actual telling of the coming of Jesus 40 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:45,720 in Bethlehem, Isaiah the prophet foretold hundreds of years 41 00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:50,440 beforehand of the coming of the King, of the need of the people 42 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:53,240 of Israel, ultimately God's people and all who would come to 43 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:59,760 know Him of their need. The book of Isaiah was written 44 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:03,960 in a very turbulent time in the people of Israel. 45 00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:09,280 It was written around the 8th century BC, a time when a once 46 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:12,960 unified Kingdom of Israel there was a northern Kingdom and a 47 00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:15,760 southern Kingdom. They they they divided, though 48 00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:19,760 they were one people. They had then divided and the 49 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:25,640 the great nation of Assyria had grown so much that they were 50 00:03:25,640 --> 00:03:29,480 taking over lands across the Near East region and the 51 00:03:29,480 --> 00:03:34,080 northern Kingdom of the people of Israel fell to the armies of 52 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:38,560 Assyria in 722 BC. The southern Kingdom of Judah 53 00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:44,120 was now in a period of trepidation, feeling helpless, 54 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:48,320 unsure that they could overcome their enemies, this growing 55 00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:51,080 threat that sought to suppress them. 56 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:59,480 So Isaiah, in the capital city of Judah, Jerusalem, he 57 00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:02,840 prophesied and ministered to the people of Israel, spanning the 58 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:05,880 rule of several kings. The 1st chapter of Isaiah tells 59 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:10,000 us that King Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were all 60 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:13,680 rulers of the nation of Israel. While Isaiah was prophesying to 61 00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:18,279 and leading the people of Israel in the southern Kingdom, he 62 00:04:18,279 --> 00:04:23,360 warned Judah about the consequences of their idolatry 63 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:31,160 of injustice, injustice and misplaced trust in society, in 64 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:35,920 national political alliances, rather than in the Lord. 65 00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:42,000 This people that was supposed to be God's people have him first 66 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:45,040 and him only. The same people that we just 67 00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:50,120 finished talking about in Egypt delivered out of Egypt through 68 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:52,960 the wilderness. Miracles performed for their 69 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:57,760 good, for their sake to to ready their hearts to to endear their 70 00:04:57,760 --> 00:05:02,160 hearts to this one true God who would fight for them and who 71 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:07,880 would be for them. Though hundreds of years have 72 00:05:07,880 --> 00:05:11,640 passed since Egypt, this people had remained the same. 73 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:15,960 They had still looked for each and every other thing they could 74 00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:19,800 possibly find other than God to put their hope in. 75 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:24,800 So Isaiah's job He was there warning them of the danger of 76 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:29,040 putting their trust in idolatry and injustices in in earthly 77 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:33,840 powers to deliver them. He warned them of coming 78 00:05:33,840 --> 00:05:39,400 judgement. But in his later writings, he 79 00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:46,280 also proclaimed hope. He spoke of this coming 80 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:51,080 Emmanuel, which they would understand as God with us. 81 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:59,200 It's Isaiah 714. So this people who again, like 82 00:05:59,200 --> 00:06:03,680 the people in Egypt who were in slavery, who were trapped quite 83 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:08,600 literally in their sin as subjects to oppression and 84 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:15,080 darkness, exile and captivity, is once again facing the people 85 00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:21,560 of Israel in Isaiah's time. They are a people not in their 86 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:26,600 home, not where they were meant to be or where God intended them 87 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:31,280 to be. By the end of this series, what 88 00:06:31,280 --> 00:06:36,200 we hope becomes very clear to you is that the coming of Jesus 89 00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:42,280 isn't just about this precious little newborn baby born in 90 00:06:42,280 --> 00:06:46,360 extraordinary circumstances to a people sorely in need of hope, 91 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:50,880 but what that baby brought with him. 92 00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:56,680 He not only left heaven behind, he left his his godliness, his 93 00:06:56,680 --> 00:07:00,640 power, his deity, his home. He quite literally left his home 94 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:06,040 for his created people that he loved, and he brought that 95 00:07:06,040 --> 00:07:11,160 Kingdom with him. He brought His godliness, His 96 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:20,720 power, his reign to earth, to shine light, to be hope, to 97 00:07:20,720 --> 00:07:29,880 bring joy and peace, and to show that this great God that we so 98 00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:35,760 often neglect and rebel from and try to replace with each and 99 00:07:35,760 --> 00:07:41,680 everything, Jesus came to remind us that He still loves us above 100 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:45,320 all things and that He is very, very good. 101 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:54,200 So let me ask you, what do you think of? 102 00:07:55,000 --> 00:08:00,040 What are some words that come to mind when you think of home? 103 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:05,000 What is home? What makes home home? 104 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:11,280 Comfort. That was all comfort over here. 105 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:12,600 All right? Comfort. 106 00:08:12,600 --> 00:08:13,280 Comfort. Comfort. 107 00:08:13,400 --> 00:08:15,960 OK What else? What makes home? 108 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:19,960 Home? Loved ones. 109 00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:23,640 Love family. My bed. 110 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:26,680 My bed. A place of rest. 111 00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:29,840 Yeah. Safety. 112 00:08:29,840 --> 00:08:41,360 Security. How many of you find all those 113 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:44,000 things more readily? I hope you find those things 114 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:50,000 more readily at home at the place that you call home rather 115 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:54,280 than out in the world. It should be why we call that 116 00:08:54,280 --> 00:08:58,040 place home. And I know that's not every home 117 00:08:58,040 --> 00:09:01,640 and that's not everyone's experience of home, but all 118 00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:06,080 those things are what should make up a home in God's design. 119 00:09:09,040 --> 00:09:13,760 So now we enter into the busiest time of the year, these days and 120 00:09:13,760 --> 00:09:18,120 weeks leading up to Christmas, and we're all over the place, 121 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:21,440 right? Many of us spend long hours at 122 00:09:21,440 --> 00:09:25,720 work trying to wrap up projects or finish things before the end 123 00:09:25,720 --> 00:09:29,640 of the year. We have obligatory office 124 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:33,000 Christmas parties or or school performances, Christmas 125 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:39,320 pageants, services at church, extra Christmas services that we 126 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:44,240 just talked about. We feel so much of this time of 127 00:09:44,240 --> 00:09:49,320 year bouncing around from one thing or the other most of the 128 00:09:49,320 --> 00:09:54,280 time, spending time away from where we long to be in your bed, 129 00:09:54,520 --> 00:09:59,600 at home, in safety with people that we actually like, right? 130 00:10:04,120 --> 00:10:10,480 We spend all this time filling an agenda, replacing things, 131 00:10:10,480 --> 00:10:16,600 often when we'd rather be just dwelling with the people we love 132 00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:20,040 the most in the place that brings us the most peace. 133 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:26,360 We endure the hustle of the holidays with hearts yearning 134 00:10:26,360 --> 00:10:28,600 for the comforts of home. And it's doing all of this. 135 00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:31,080 We do it out of a sense of obligation of, of tradition, or 136 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:33,400 we've always done this or we won't let these people down. 137 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:39,160 When in reality, I think many of us, there's, there's a short, 138 00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:42,520 simple list of a very few things that are really what we long for 139 00:10:42,520 --> 00:10:47,240 this time of year. We replace it with a whole lot 140 00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:56,360 of extra. Our lives very often parallel 141 00:10:57,320 --> 00:11:01,000 the bustle and chaos of that first Christmas story. 142 00:11:02,200 --> 00:11:07,960 It was a time there was a census Mary and Joseph, who again there 143 00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:10,520 was, if you're not familiar with how that went down. 144 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:14,720 Mary came to Joseph. They were they were betrothed to 145 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:20,120 be married and she let him know, Hey, kids coming. 146 00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:24,720 Joseph's like, well, I know who's it's not. 147 00:11:28,080 --> 00:11:33,720 Which at the time was. I mean, that that was leper 148 00:11:33,720 --> 00:11:36,840 status as as far as societal. You didn't you didn't have 149 00:11:36,840 --> 00:11:40,200 children out of wedlock ever. You were, you were much 150 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:43,840 chagrined for that to happen. So he's dealing with all, all of 151 00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:47,560 these things, but he doesn't want to wrong her. 152 00:11:47,560 --> 00:11:49,280 He doesn't want to cast her out. She's telling. 153 00:11:49,280 --> 00:11:51,600 No, really. It was just it just happened. 154 00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:54,320 It just like that. I just expected a kid. 155 00:11:54,360 --> 00:12:00,760 Yeah, OK. And of course, an Angel comes 156 00:12:00,760 --> 00:12:03,440 and explains to Joseph the the plan and lets him know. 157 00:12:03,440 --> 00:12:06,240 I know this is a divine supernatural thing that that 158 00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:09,520 happened and and there's great plans for this boy who's going 159 00:12:09,520 --> 00:12:13,280 to be this coming Emmanuel. He's going to save his people 160 00:12:13,280 --> 00:12:16,880 from their sins. So God gets Mary on board. 161 00:12:16,880 --> 00:12:19,680 God gets Joseph on board. But they are going away from 162 00:12:19,680 --> 00:12:23,640 home. They're going to Joseph's 163 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:32,200 hometown In the same way, in Isaiah's time, he was 164 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:38,440 prophesying to a people under the threat of extermination, of 165 00:12:39,280 --> 00:12:43,800 indentured servitude, of captivity, that southern 166 00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:46,480 Kingdom, Judah, already having watched the northern Kingdom 167 00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:51,200 fall. The things that they were 168 00:12:51,200 --> 00:12:55,040 placing their hope in, privilege and protection and safety and 169 00:12:55,040 --> 00:12:58,240 comfort, the things of home, they were under attack. 170 00:13:00,360 --> 00:13:04,560 They were under threat. And honestly, it was all their 171 00:13:04,560 --> 00:13:08,360 fault. They had done it to themselves. 172 00:13:09,320 --> 00:13:12,080 They hadn't put their hope in God. 173 00:13:14,560 --> 00:13:19,760 And that was a picture really of our entire world as a result of 174 00:13:19,920 --> 00:13:22,760 sin, the faithlessness of the northern Kingdom of Israel and 175 00:13:22,760 --> 00:13:25,280 the southern Kingdom of Judah. It would bring about their 176 00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:29,280 respective exiles from God the same way our rebellion, our 177 00:13:29,280 --> 00:13:33,880 replacement of God, brings us into exile from Him. 178 00:13:36,280 --> 00:13:38,400 They refused to believe in the promises of God. 179 00:13:38,520 --> 00:13:41,920 They repeated countless mistakes in which they should have known 180 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:49,160 better, and they reached a place where judgment rather than hope, 181 00:13:49,200 --> 00:13:56,680 joy, peace, comfort, safety, love, judgement was the thing 182 00:13:56,920 --> 00:14:00,280 reigning and ruling in their lives more than any of those 183 00:14:00,280 --> 00:14:03,240 things that we would like to be a part of home. 184 00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:09,480 So they had this feeling. There was a philosopher called 185 00:14:09,480 --> 00:14:13,080 Heidegger. He called it Umm Halaikite. 186 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:17,640 I don't know if I said that right, but that's how it looks. 187 00:14:18,960 --> 00:14:25,720 It's a feeling of dislocation, of that nagging feeling of you 188 00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:32,080 don't belong here, I don't fit in, I'm in the wrong place. 189 00:14:33,560 --> 00:14:37,640 Being alienated in your own body, living in a world that 190 00:14:37,640 --> 00:14:41,320 doesn't meet our deepest needs or desires or comforts or 191 00:14:41,320 --> 00:14:45,880 safety. We feel out of sync, We're out 192 00:14:45,880 --> 00:14:52,240 of rhythm, Knowing ultimately that this place, this life full 193 00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:57,960 of problems and sins and pains and struggles, it's not really 194 00:14:57,960 --> 00:15:01,200 what we were made for. I think there's a part of each 195 00:15:01,200 --> 00:15:03,480 and every one of us that understands that. 196 00:15:03,600 --> 00:15:07,040 But we said we spend so much time, we spend so much of this 197 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:12,600 life looking for things to solve those problems when it's really 198 00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:16,880 found in this baby born in Bethlehem 2000 years ago. 199 00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:20,960 The perpetual sin that we keep running to despite all the 200 00:15:20,960 --> 00:15:23,880 promises we've made to our spouse, to our friends, to 201 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:25,960 ourselves, to our God, that this time it'll be different. 202 00:15:25,960 --> 00:15:28,560 I'll get it right this time. I'll be stronger than my sin 203 00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:36,170 this time. There's guilt that we can't 204 00:15:36,170 --> 00:15:40,330 shake from mistakes made in the past, no matter how many times 205 00:15:40,330 --> 00:15:45,240 we're told that we're forgiven. We can carry chronic pain. 206 00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:50,560 We can pour out into people, into family and friends and 207 00:15:50,560 --> 00:15:55,160 hobbies and habits, and we're still left with a sense that 208 00:15:55,160 --> 00:15:58,640 it's ultimately, ultimately not enough. 209 00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:05,440 I think we all have that quiet whisper when faced with 210 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:08,720 brokenness, that this isn't how it's supposed to be. 211 00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:17,280 And you're right, it's not, this is not the home, the world that 212 00:16:17,280 --> 00:16:21,800 God intends for us. We're going to go right back 213 00:16:21,800 --> 00:16:24,040 before we jump into the words of Isaiah, we're going to go right 214 00:16:24,040 --> 00:16:27,160 back to some words of Moses that are found in Psalm 90. 215 00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:32,400 Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. 216 00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:36,880 Before the mountains were brought forth or ever you had 217 00:16:36,880 --> 00:16:39,680 formed the earth in the world. From everlasting to everlasting, 218 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:48,480 you are God, They will be my people and I will be their God. 219 00:16:49,320 --> 00:16:57,840 From the beginning of time. Yahweh I AM has been the answer 220 00:16:57,840 --> 00:17:02,280 to all the things that make up home. 221 00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:08,319 So this series in Isaiah is called Coming Home for 222 00:17:08,319 --> 00:17:13,240 Christmas. As we seek to recenter, just as 223 00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:17,920 we talked about a few weeks ago, seeking the Kingdom first, we're 224 00:17:17,920 --> 00:17:21,839 coming home. We're coming back to the start 225 00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:28,760 of how God designed it for our for us to place our priorities. 226 00:17:29,640 --> 00:17:33,960 Those 4 apps that we talked about faith, family, fitness and 227 00:17:33,960 --> 00:17:40,080 finances, it all starts with this Lord, our dwelling place in 228 00:17:40,080 --> 00:17:44,840 all generations. And in the book of Isaiah, we're 229 00:17:44,840 --> 00:17:48,680 going to draw out some ways that it has always been this way. 230 00:17:49,200 --> 00:17:54,560 God as our home. So we're in Isaiah Chapter 11 231 00:17:54,760 --> 00:18:01,440 this morning, this prophecy. It's the 1st 10 verses we're 232 00:18:01,440 --> 00:18:04,000 going to read in this chapter. You're welcome to grab a Bible 233 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:07,960 in front of you under the seats or whip out your app on your 234 00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:09,400 phone. The words will be up on the 235 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:13,000 screen. Isaiah Chapter 11. 236 00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:19,200 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a 237 00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:22,000 branch from his roots shall bear fruit. 238 00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:26,000 Talking about the line of David here, Jesse being king, David's 239 00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:30,920 father foretold that Jesus was would come from that birth line. 240 00:18:31,840 --> 00:18:35,880 Verse 2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the 241 00:18:35,880 --> 00:18:38,200 spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of 242 00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:42,320 counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the 243 00:18:42,320 --> 00:18:45,560 Lord. Look at all these things. 244 00:18:47,720 --> 00:18:51,120 These are the things that would make up the Savior, the perfect 245 00:18:51,400 --> 00:18:54,800 Jesus. Wisdom, understanding, counsel, 246 00:18:54,920 --> 00:18:57,440 might, knowledge and fear of the Lord. 247 00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:02,200 All things we should strive after to live in His blueprint, 248 00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:04,760 the way that God ordained it for our lives. 249 00:19:04,800 --> 00:19:10,440 Jesus is our perfect example of all these things, and Isaiah is 250 00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:13,960 infusing this message of hope into the people of Israel. 251 00:19:16,760 --> 00:19:20,720 Verse 3. His delight shall be in the fear 252 00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:24,240 of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his 253 00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:28,160 eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with 254 00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:32,040 righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity. 255 00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:35,240 For the meek of the earth. He shall strike the earth with 256 00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:38,720 the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall 257 00:19:38,720 --> 00:19:47,160 kill the wicked. If you ever wonder, yeah, but 258 00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:48,440 does God really know what this like? 259 00:19:48,440 --> 00:19:50,200 Does he understand what I'm going through? 260 00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:53,440 He doesn't. He doesn't get this or he 261 00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:56,760 doesn't understand how this happened to me. 262 00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:00,760 Those are all the wrong questions. 263 00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:06,840 We love to contextualize our misfortune. 264 00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:12,560 We love to excuse the things we did wrong or the bad things that 265 00:20:12,560 --> 00:20:14,640 have happened to us. And Jesus isn't coming to the 266 00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:16,960 earth to accommodate any of that. 267 00:20:18,760 --> 00:20:21,400 He's not going to judge by what his eyes see or what his ears 268 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:26,360 hear with righteousness. His one standard, that's it. 269 00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:33,400 It doesn't shift or sway by the societal rulers or or what's 270 00:20:33,400 --> 00:20:38,160 acceptable nowadays. It's his standard. 271 00:20:38,200 --> 00:20:40,920 It's his truth by which he shall judge. 272 00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:45,280 So strike the earth with the rod of his mouth. 273 00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:54,240 Literally His word, the word of God, and he's so powerful that 274 00:20:54,240 --> 00:21:00,160 with the simple breath of his lips he can wipe the wicked from 275 00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:05,960 the earth. That's hope for a hurting 276 00:21:05,960 --> 00:21:10,640 people, for this exiled, oppressed people of Israel and 277 00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:14,360 Judah. And that's hope for us as a 278 00:21:14,360 --> 00:21:20,840 hurting people today. Take note of how it happens, 279 00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:24,000 though. All this might, all this 280 00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:32,240 splendor that Isaiah is talking about, and yet, and yet Mary and 281 00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:35,200 Joseph were on a road trip headed for Bethlehem for a 282 00:21:35,200 --> 00:21:39,160 census. When it comes time for the baby 283 00:21:39,160 --> 00:21:41,040 to be born, they can't find a house. 284 00:21:41,360 --> 00:21:45,920 They're stuck in a stable. We've got a few new moms in 285 00:21:45,920 --> 00:21:48,880 here, plenty of seasoned moms in here too. 286 00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:50,880 I don't think at the time the baby come, you're like, all 287 00:21:50,880 --> 00:21:53,080 right, Get Me Out of the backyard. 288 00:21:54,120 --> 00:21:58,640 Let's do this. That's what they had to deal 289 00:21:58,640 --> 00:22:04,960 with. Not only that, those actual 290 00:22:04,960 --> 00:22:09,200 conditions, but they were far from home from their earthly 291 00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:11,400 home. They didn't have the support 292 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:17,400 that they usually would. Their child is not simply chosen 293 00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:20,680 by God to rescue his people, but he is the flesh of the Son of 294 00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:30,040 God himself. That reality, that truth that 295 00:22:30,040 --> 00:22:36,840 Isaiah is speaking to a people in exile spoke volumes that this 296 00:22:37,160 --> 00:22:42,640 perfect Savior, this perfect God would be exiled from his home, 297 00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:51,080 from his home in heaven to come be a perfect sacrifice for or 298 00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:54,640 hurting people. God joins us. 299 00:22:54,800 --> 00:22:58,880 The picture of Jesus coming to earth is God joining us in our 300 00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:02,200 exile, in our homelessness, in the way that we are not meant 301 00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:05,600 for this world. Neither was Jesus, but he came 302 00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:09,480 to make a way to our true home in heaven. 303 00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:14,760 He leaves home and he joins us. He becomes the way himself. 304 00:23:17,360 --> 00:23:22,080 So this Jesus, this birth we anticipate, he arrives, he comes 305 00:23:22,080 --> 00:23:27,080 to earth and he continues to not belong here, right? 306 00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:32,720 He's not joyfully accepted. He's he's exiled and abused and 307 00:23:32,720 --> 00:23:36,440 questioned and schemed against and ultimately plotted against 308 00:23:36,480 --> 00:23:38,680 to be murdered and ultimately murdered. 309 00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:49,160 And this place that doesn't hold any true power over him, that is 310 00:23:49,160 --> 00:23:57,840 not his home, he succumbs to it. He willingly lays his life down 311 00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:01,080 for a people that had spurned him. 312 00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:12,080 But he rises, showing his power over all of it and giving us a 313 00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:17,480 way to experience the lasting effects of his resurrection. 314 00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:26,080 Sin and death didn't stick for him because those things are not 315 00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:32,040 a part of his home. Those are things that aren't 316 00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:34,480 going to be there. And that's why Isaiah goes into 317 00:24:34,480 --> 00:24:37,480 this list in in the 2nd chapter, in the second part of this 318 00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:40,160 chapter here he goes on with the righteousness. 319 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:42,640 That righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, faithfulness, 320 00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:44,880 the belt of his loins. Those are the things that are 321 00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:48,400 established in him. He is faithfulness, He is 322 00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:50,080 righteousness. Those things can't be 323 00:24:50,080 --> 00:24:51,920 questioned. He is the standard. 324 00:24:53,440 --> 00:24:58,280 And then he goes on to this list in the next 5 verses of things 325 00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:01,720 that don't make sense. The wolf should go with the 326 00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:03,240 lamb. The leopard should lie down with 327 00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:06,880 the young goat, the calf and the lion and the fat and calf 328 00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:09,080 together, and a little child shall lead them. 329 00:25:09,920 --> 00:25:11,760 None of that makes sense to us, right? 330 00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:14,520 Those are enemies. Those are dangerous things to 331 00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:17,760 put together. How many of you going home and 332 00:25:17,760 --> 00:25:23,800 letting your kid walk the lion today doesn't make sense to us 333 00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:27,000 in this broken world. But in God's design, that's 334 00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:31,080 normal. They're supposed to be at peace 335 00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:35,600 with each other. This world of strife and sin and 336 00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:39,240 brokenness feels unnatural because it's not the way it's 337 00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:43,080 supposed to be. And like the people of Israel, 338 00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:46,360 we as a people, as humankind, have screwed it up. 339 00:25:47,560 --> 00:25:53,720 We've brought it to be that way. The cow and the bear shall 340 00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:55,000 graze. Their young shall lie down 341 00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:56,480 together. The lions will each straw like 342 00:25:56,480 --> 00:25:58,480 the ox. The nursing child shall play 343 00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:01,680 over the whole of the cobra. That sounds wildly dangerous. 344 00:26:02,560 --> 00:26:05,480 And the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. 345 00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:08,680 Kids are playing with snakes supposed to be normal and fine 346 00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:13,760 and good. We know that it's not because we 347 00:26:13,760 --> 00:26:15,120 live in a world afflicted with sin. 348 00:26:15,520 --> 00:26:20,000 We live in a world of danger where anything other than home 349 00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:27,680 can be unsafe, is not secure, is not love. 350 00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:35,560 Any of you who've been parents or who are parents or 351 00:26:35,560 --> 00:26:40,600 grandparents can be a scary thing. 352 00:26:40,720 --> 00:26:46,800 Kids growing up and going out into the world think of God the 353 00:26:46,800 --> 00:26:54,480 Father with the task of sending his son away from home to a 354 00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:59,360 world that will hate him, knowing they will ultimately 355 00:26:59,360 --> 00:27:01,080 kill him. That's for sure. 356 00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:08,960 How hard must that have been of for the Father to just want to 357 00:27:08,960 --> 00:27:11,480 keep his son in the safety of home? 358 00:27:16,820 --> 00:27:20,680 That's not a reality that we can really facilitate in this world 359 00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:22,840 though. Just like God had to send Jesus 360 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:27,080 out into the world to be the light of the world, to be the 361 00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:30,280 hope. Christian parents, Christian 362 00:27:30,280 --> 00:27:37,720 households, your kids are still the way that the world finds out 363 00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:43,120 about the hope of Jesus. God didn't withhold his Son from 364 00:27:43,120 --> 00:27:46,800 being the hope, the light of the world, and neither will we. 365 00:27:49,280 --> 00:27:55,160 We're going to build them up in strength God gave us. 366 00:27:55,680 --> 00:27:58,560 Just like in the beginning of this passage, Jesus is equipped. 367 00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:01,200 He's got righteousness, He's got faithfulness. 368 00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:05,240 He has this armor that Paul later writes about. 369 00:28:08,960 --> 00:28:13,960 And ultimately, just like he went with Moses, didn't matter 370 00:28:14,120 --> 00:28:17,360 how equipped or how strong or how able Moses was. 371 00:28:17,360 --> 00:28:19,640 What matters is God went with him. 372 00:28:21,640 --> 00:28:26,080 Jesus coming down to earth, quite literally, God with us, 373 00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:35,840 Emmanuel goes with us. So in a world that doesn't feel 374 00:28:35,840 --> 00:28:44,640 like home, Christ came to earth to come alongside us to bring 375 00:28:44,720 --> 00:28:53,280 hope to a hopeless world. But now we're stuck in the 376 00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:57,360 already, not yet. For those of you who know Jesus, 377 00:28:57,960 --> 00:29:00,360 either before today or for the first time today are hearing 378 00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:04,760 about it. We live in the tension of 379 00:29:04,760 --> 00:29:08,480 knowing that this world isn't truly our home and having to 380 00:29:08,480 --> 00:29:12,080 strive each and every day to fix our eyes on the object of our 381 00:29:12,080 --> 00:29:18,760 faith in Jesus, who is keeping our place in home, in heaven 382 00:29:19,160 --> 00:29:27,320 with Him, secure. Isn't that what we're really 383 00:29:27,320 --> 00:29:31,720 after? Isn't that truly the longing of 384 00:29:31,720 --> 00:29:34,480 our hearts each and every day, not just for our earthly bed? 385 00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:42,280 And I love that. Isn't that the deepest longing 386 00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:48,200 of our hearts? A home that is secure and is not 387 00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:51,440 shaken? Not just at this time of you're, 388 00:29:51,440 --> 00:29:54,440 not just at Christmas, but at but at all times. 389 00:29:54,760 --> 00:29:59,160 We just want to be home. We want to be in that place 390 00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:04,920 where we are fully known, fully forgiven, and finally at rest. 391 00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:11,440 Isaiah writes it this way. They shall not hurt or destroy 392 00:30:11,800 --> 00:30:15,440 in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the 393 00:30:15,440 --> 00:30:18,280 knowledge of the Lord. As the waters cover the sea in 394 00:30:18,280 --> 00:30:23,160 that day, the root of Jesse Jesus, who shall stand as a 395 00:30:23,160 --> 00:30:26,040 signal for all the peoples of Him, shall the nation's inquire, 396 00:30:26,200 --> 00:30:29,360 and his resting place shall be glorious. 397 00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:35,480 This passage sounds very familiar, that there there shall 398 00:30:35,480 --> 00:30:39,520 be no more tears or mourning or crying or pain. 399 00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:48,240 There will be nothing to fear, nothing to hurt, nothing to be 400 00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:53,080 shameful of. It will be full of the knowledge 401 00:30:53,080 --> 00:30:58,200 of the Lord, and His resting place shall be glorious. 402 00:30:59,160 --> 00:31:10,240 That's the home that our hearts long 4 So I know back to reality 403 00:31:10,240 --> 00:31:13,600 now it's really easy to feel like there's a resting place in 404 00:31:13,600 --> 00:31:17,200 a home in this room for an hour on Sunday mornings. 405 00:31:17,320 --> 00:31:22,320 But can't stay here. We can't stay here. 406 00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:26,800 I'd love to. We're going to go back out into 407 00:31:26,800 --> 00:31:29,240 that world though. We're going to go back out into 408 00:31:29,240 --> 00:31:33,880 that world that doesn't feel like home, especially this time 409 00:31:33,880 --> 00:31:36,800 of year. There's no getting around the 410 00:31:36,800 --> 00:31:39,760 business of the holidays, family, things that we feel like 411 00:31:39,760 --> 00:31:43,320 we have to do. Probably going to spend more 412 00:31:43,320 --> 00:31:44,720 time in the car than you're on the couch. 413 00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:51,320 This month might just happen, but there may be a way to redeem 414 00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:57,920 that time. Maybe the movement that we have 415 00:31:57,920 --> 00:32:02,640 this season can be a reminder of what this time of year is about. 416 00:32:03,640 --> 00:32:06,880 May every time that we ache to just be at home, to just be in 417 00:32:06,880 --> 00:32:11,800 the warmth of our bed, the comfort of our home, may that be 418 00:32:11,800 --> 00:32:15,280 a reminder the place that our Lord is keeping for us in 419 00:32:15,280 --> 00:32:19,560 heaven, the One who left His throne, His home for us. 420 00:32:22,800 --> 00:32:25,680 May every time you're going crazy and wondering how you're 421 00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:28,480 going to make it here, here and here, may that be a reminder of 422 00:32:28,480 --> 00:32:30,800 how this world is not our home. It's not the way it's supposed 423 00:32:30,800 --> 00:32:39,420 to be. And really, may this time of 424 00:32:39,420 --> 00:32:44,340 year be a reminder that our hope, our home, is not far off. 425 00:32:46,340 --> 00:32:53,940 Jesus has come to US. One day soon we'll dwell with 426 00:32:53,940 --> 00:33:03,120 Him fully and forever. This time of year, there's a 427 00:33:03,120 --> 00:33:07,360 phrase that's often brought up that home is where the heart is. 428 00:33:10,440 --> 00:33:16,240 That can mean a lot of things on earth, but as you consider your 429 00:33:16,240 --> 00:33:21,200 heavenly home, where's your heart? 430 00:33:21,200 --> 00:33:29,880 Church, Let's pray. Thanks for listening to ERC 431 00:33:29,880 --> 00:33:32,360 Sundays. To support the work God is doing 432 00:33:32,360 --> 00:33:36,920 an Emmaus Rd. church, visit emmausrdonline.org/giving.